Newsweek's Niall Ferguson wrote: "On China, Kissinger's new book, is a reminder of why our leaders still want to pick his brains." At 88, "he remains without equal as a strategic thinker", he continues.

Could you explain "pick one's brains"?

Picking someone's brains sounds like a disgusting thing to do, right? Wrong! It simply means to get information or ideas from someone.

For example, a colleague of mine went to Lijiang in Yunnan earlier this year on holiday and, as I plan to visit there in a few months, I am picking her brains for ideas on what to see and do there. Your English teacher is probably more than happy for you to pick their brains on anything language related.

Generally, we pick the brains of someone who is an expert on a subject, or knows a lot about it.

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本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Kim Bowden hails from Auckland, New Zealand, where she recently completed AUT University’s Postgraduate Journalism Diploma.